Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Vital HfP reader news – new champagne coming to Club World next week (and new cutlery)

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Here at Head for Points we understand what really matters to our readers.  That is why this story had to be the lead one today.

From 27th March, British Airways will be serving a new champagne in its Club World cabins – Henriot Brut Souverain NV.

This did apparently win a blind taste test.  You may be cynically thinking that it is also cheap, but Jancis Robinson recommended it at Christmas so I am quietly confident.  I will see if the crew will bring me a glass into First Class in early April ….

Virgin Atlantic 747 champagne

de Castelnau Rose and de Castelnau Brut Reserve NV will also continue to be available.

And new champagne in Club Europe too ….

If you’ve not flown Club Europe so far this year, you won’t know that de Castlenau Brut Reserve NV has replaced the Heidsieck Monopole.  Monopole has been the CE champgne since, well, the dawn of time, or at least as far back as I can remember.  Reports on Flyertalk are mixed so far.

And new cutlery ….

There will be even more excitement on board from Tuesday (long-haul) and a week on Tuesday (short-haul) as new cutlery is introduced in all cabins except First.

Coming rather late to the party, given the current oil price, this new cutlery will be noticeably lighter than the current version which apparently leads to fuel savings.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (41)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Judge says:

    Monopole was only served for two or three years in Club Europe. Before that was one of my favourites, Pommery, for many years. That said I did like the Monopole. Was not so keen on the de Castelnau I was given last week, having had Monopole served the week before. Also noted was not given a starter course on the latter flight – is this new too?

    • zsalya says:

      I remember when it was Piper Heidsieck in both Club cabins.
      And they did bring me a glass to First when I said I preferred it to the Grand Siecle.

      One disadvantage of using avios for Iberia flights is that one is offered cava rather than champagne.
      I stuck to water.

  • Imbruce says:

    Just flew with Qantas and they use that nasty plastic tableware. It’s totally useless trying to cut anything with and think of the piles of it sitting in landfill all over the world. Bring back proper cutlery.

  • Nick says:

    De Castelnau was served on my flight VCE-GTW last month.

  • Jon says:

    Yawn – let me know when they get some decent soft drinks in. Still waiting for BA to realise that Club World pax who don’t drink alcohol deserve something more than the kids fizzy pop they serve up in WT.

  • Daz says:

    OT: I was just looking for a hotel in FRA for the 6/7th Apr after coming back from SIN on QR, setting my family up for the BA connecting flight back to LHR. I looked at the IHG site to see if I could hit an Accelerate target, that was until I saw the price of a basic room in the IC Frankfurt!!!!!

    Basic room flexible rate – Eur 2300.00
    Advanced saver rate – Eur 2007.00

    To say I nearly choked on my brunch is an understatement, think I might use a rewards night if I stay there on those dates.

    • Rob says:

      IC FRA is a dump. Avoid even Euro 20.07.

      • Daz says:

        Thank for the info Rob, we’re staying at the Hilton at the airport on the way out.

        Just confirm: it was Eur 2007.90 Two Thousand and Seven Euros ninety cents for that night (advanced purchase) in the IC FRA. I do hope someone has messed up on that price! I’ve take a screen shot!!

  • Kevin says:

    @ Deb
    I flew with BA to SFO yesterday (on the 3pm Departure – BA287 ) and can confirm it did have the new First cabin.
    Sadly I was “only” in club – but at £750 rt from CPH (using about the same number of Avios as earned on the flight) I wasn’t complaining!

  • Matt W says:

    Let them eat cake with a spork …

  • Topp2015 says:

    First world problems…

    • Rob says:

      I should have pirated the article I saw the other day about which airlines do and don’t serve caviar in F, you’d have liked that one.

      (Apparently, Lufthansa First Class consumes 5% of the world caviar supply, a figure I find slightly hard to believe but which is put around by LH themselves.)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.